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Sunday, 22 January 2012

Simple Sunday Supper

I very much enjoy Sundays; there is something rather luxurious about pottering around in a pair of ex boyfriends pj bottoms (well they say you should take something from every relationship you have and I've found this to be far the most effective thing) after a long weekend at work and a busy Saturday. Sometimes I'll mix it up and go for a swim or a walk, often I'll do some form of cleaning and of course when your in a relationship you tend to do couply things but I like my Sundays to be peaceful and quiet and preferably spent on my own.

Foodwise sometimes I'll be sociable have everyone over and cook one of my rather awesome roasts. As much as I'm at my happiest feeding my nearest and dearest, roasts create so much washing up and leave my cheeks so very flushed. Sometimes I'll go out for a meal with my beloved friends and sometimes when I have no work on the Monday I'll drag my friend Timmy to the pub to get drunk! Today after a bit of a mad girly night out I just decided that a nice simple supper on my own was all I needed.....

I made the pate the day before and this recipe is very much influenced by Mr Slater the God of all cooks but I've tweaked it around a bit and I absolutely insist on the peppercorns - the fireiness sets of the smooth texture of the pate perfectly! Once you've realised how easy and tasty this is you will find it hard to justify picking up a pack of the shop bought stuff!

Chicken liver pate with Peppercorns

400g chicken livers (average pack size me thinks)milk150g butter (nice and soft)100ml double creamglug of white wine / brandy - most recipes call for brandy but i must confess i had none in my house so white wine was substituted, but it tasted delicious so we'll go with it!1tbsp green peppercorns (as I've instructed before drain them first on kitchen paper

You start by de-viening the livers, this isn't the nicest job in the world and I do tend to hack away a bit but practise makes perfect. Place the livers into a bowl, cover with milk and leave them for about an hour - plenty of time to have a soak in the bath or do your nails!! Melt a third of the butter in the pan and let it froth and then add the livers one by one - stand well away these babies spit like nothing else! they need about 5-6 minutes and a couple of turns so they are lightly golden but not overcooked after all you want a pink pate! put all contents of pan (juices and everything) into a blender with the cream and the rest of the butter, start to blend. Put the pan back on the heat and add a couple of glugs of brandy, let is reduce a bit and then add it into the blender. Blend it until nice and smooth and there you have it! Most recipes say to sieve this mixture but I find you don't really need to, just mix in the peppercorns and pour into ramekins!

Now leave them to set in the fridge for about an hour. Melt some butter and then pour over each ramekin this helps the pate keep a bit better and makes it look a little bit more professional!

And so my pate's sat looking rather scrummy in the fridge and my lazy Sunday supper involved the great task of making some toast, spreading on some pate and onion marmalade and demolishing in front of BBC 4's "The story of Musicals". Rock n Roll is my middle name honest.